The present invention relates, in general, to vehicle sun visors.
Sun visors are used in vehicles to provide front and side window protection from sunlight entry. Such sun visors are pivotal about a longitudinal axis between a stowed position adjacent the headliner and a deployed position angularly extending from the headliner. Most sun visors can also be unlocked from a headliner mounted clip or D-ring and pivoted to the side window about a support arm attached to the vehicle headliner. A biasing means is typically mounted within the visor to prevent movement and noise when the sun visor is in the stowed position.
Over the years, various enhancements or features have been added for sun visors to increase their versatility as well as to add other convenience factors to the vehicle occupants.
One such feature is the telescopic extension of the entire sun visor along the longitudinal axis of the support arm to enable the sun visor to be repositioned laterally across the windshield or the side window to block sun light entry in a particular direction for an occupant.
Another common feature is a mirror with or without a pivotal cover and with or without an illumination means which is mounted in one surface of the sun visor, typically the surface facing the headliner when the sun visor is in the stowed position. The sun visor need only be pivoted to the angular downward extending position to allow use of the mirror.
When an illumination means, such as lamps, are provided around the mirror, electrical conductors or wires extend through the A pillar of the vehicle body and the support arm to the individual lamps in the sun visor.
Various means have been provided to mount fabric or decorative covers over the plastic sun visor core. One such mount traps the ends of the fabric cover between the two clam shell core halves when the halves are moved to their closed, locked position. Another mount utilizes projections on the inner surfaces of the core halves over which the inner edges of the fabric cover are forced.
Heat stake projections have also been provided about the periphery of the core halves. In this mounting technique, the edges of the fabric cover are forced over the heat stake projections and then heat is applied to melt the stakes through the interstices of the fabric cover to fixedly retain the inner edges of the cover in a fixed position on the sun visor core.
The present invention is a sun visor having a unique structure to support sliding or telescoping movement.
In one aspect, the sun visor includes a core having first and second foldable core halves. A guide is formed on one of the first and second core halves and receives a support arm attachable to the vehicle.
The core and a slide carrier are axially moveable along the support arm. In one aspect, rib means includes first and second ribs respectively carried on the first and second core halves. The carrier includes first and second channels opening oppositely from each other and respectively receiving the first and second ribs.
A biasing clip is mounted in the carrier in engagement with the support arm for normally biasing the carrier and the surrounding core in one direction.
In another aspect, the elongated support arm for sliding core movement is replaced by a short length support arm mounted in the guide. In this aspect, the carrier is also mounted in the guide and is non-moveable with respect to the guide.
The unique sun visor of the present invention has a structure which supports either sliding and non-sliding movement without modification to the sun visor core configuration.
To support sliding sun visor movement, an elongated support arm is employed to support sliding movement of the carrier and the core with respect to the support arm. The opposed channels and ribs provide enhanced stability of the core for a smooth sliding movement without impingement.
At the same time, the elongated support arm may be replaced with a short length support arm which engages the guide and the carrier mounted in the guide to support only pivotal movement of the sun visor. In this manner, both sliding and non-sliding sun visor movements may be provided by the same sun visor construction with the only additional requirement being two different support arms. This reduces the overall manufacturing cost of the sun visor to accommodate different applications.